According to data compiled by the National Eye Institute, as many as 50 million Americans are projected to have cataracts by the year 2050, which represents a doubling from the statistics in place for 2010.
For those in Decatur, Alabama, who are concerned about cataracts, Charles D. Woods, MD, and his team at Eye and Cataract Associates offer excellent diagnostic and treatment services.
Schedule a comprehensive eye examination to learn more about your current eye health and how to preserve healthy vision for a lifetime. Call the office to book an appointment.
Cataract Q & A
What are cataracts?
Cataracts are the clouding in the clear portion of the lens in one or both eyes. This clouding develops slowly, and most men and women won’t notice vision changes early on. Over time, however, cataracts can make it difficult to see properly.
Cataracts usually develop as you age, although there are certain genetic conditions that can put you at a greater risk for cataracts. Some types are present from birth or develop during childhood.
What are the symptoms of cataracts?
In the earliest stages, cataracts often are asymptomatic. As they progress, you may notice:
Cloudy or blurred vision
Sensitivity to light
Fading or yellowing colors
“Halos” around lights
Problems with night vision
Need for brighter light during reading
Double vision in only one eye
Many of these symptoms can indicate other eye health problems, which is why it’s so important to schedule routine eye examinations to catch issues in the earliest stages.
Can cataracts be treated?
One treatment option involves finding the best corrective eyeglasses or contacts to improve your vision. Lifestyle modifications, including using magnification devices, improving your home’s lighting, and wearing sunglasses when outside, can help stave off vision loss.
If your cataracts have clouded to the point that proper vision is no longer possible, surgery can help. Cataract surgery involves removing the damaged lens and replacing it with an artificial lens, called an intraocular lens.
Newly developed toric lenses can help correct astigmatism and use different levels of correction in certain areas of the lenses. They’re marked to allow Dr. Woods to position them to correct your type of astigmatism.
Dr. Woods uses an innovative device called ORA™ System Technology to gather real-time eye measurements during cataract surgery, enabling him to choose the right power lens for implantation.
Will I still need glasses after cataract surgery?
Many people believe cataract surgery eliminates their need for eyeglasses, but that’s not always the case. While surgery can remove the clouding caused by cataracts, you may still have vision issues that require corrective devices like glasses or contact lenses.
Fortunately, Dr. Woods can pinpoint your exact vision needs after cataract surgery and can create custom eyeglass prescriptions to correct any remaining vision issues. Contact lenses are another option, and you may benefit from one lens to correct a vision challenge in one eye and a different lens to address problems in the other eye.
To learn more about how Dr. Woods approaches cataracts, book a consultation and eye exam at your earliest convenience.
Intraocular Lenses
An intraocular lens (IOL) is a tiny, lightweight, clear plastic or silicone disc placed in the eye during cataract surgery. An IOL replaces the focusing power of the eye's natural lens.
Your eye's natural lens plays an important role in focusing images on the retina. When a cataract develops, the lens loses its clarity. Light rays cannot focus clearly, and the image you see is blurry. Eyeglasses or contact lenses usually can correct slight refractive errors caused by early cataracts, but they cannot sharpen your vision if an advanced cataract is present.
The only treatment for a severe cataract is to remove the eye's natural lens and replace it with an IOL. Intraocular lenses offer many advantages. Unlike contact lenses, which must be removed, cleaned, and reinserted, the IOL remains in the eye after surgery.
An IOL may be implanted either in front of or behind the iris. Behind the iris is the most frequent placement site. IOLs can be made of hard plastic, soft plastic, or soft silicone. Soft, foldable lenses can be inserted through a small incision, which shortens recovery time following surgery.
The rapid evolution of IOL designs, materials, and implant techniques has made them a safe and practical way to restore normal vision after cataract surgery.
Multifocal and Accommodative Intraocular Lenses
A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens inside the eye. Most of the time this clouding progresses slowly and is due to the natural aging process of the eye. Patients will experience gradual blurring or dimming, sometimes described as a "haze" or "film" over their vision. As the cataract progresses, the vision usually decreases. This decrease in vision can make everyday tasks such as reading or driving difficult (glare increases which also contributes to night driving problems). Please let Dr. Woods' staff know if you are experiencing these problems.
Cataracts usually develop very gradually and can take months or even years to affect the vision. Cataract treatment may be performed when a cataract is affecting your quality of day-to-day life. Dr. Woods will perform a thorough eye exam to assess if cataract treatment would be beneficial to you.
Cataract treatment is done on an outpatient basis. For most patients modern day cataract treatment is a painless procedure with few limitations. The procedure is usually performed under topical anesthesia; this means drops are used to numb the eye. During the cataract treatment the natural "cloudy" lens is removed and an artificial lens called an intraocular lens is placed inside of the eye. There are several varieties (mono-focal, multi-focal and accommodating) of intraocular lenses Dr. Woods uses. Dr. Woods will discuss which lens you are a candidate for, if cataract treatment is needed.
Most patients will need to wear glasses for reading after they have had cataract treatment. In some patients a new technology can be used that could reduce the dependency on reading glasses after treatment. This new technology uses a multi-focal or accommodating lens implant to help the patient focus on distant and near objects at the same time. This new technology is not fully covered by insurance, so there would be an out-of-pocket expense to you. If you are a candidate for this technology, Dr. Woods and his staff will discuss possible benefits of this option and expenses related to this procedure.